These are the easiest recipe I have and my new go to/favorite. Dates are sugary, low on the glycemic index, low on the insulin index, not too expensive, and they taste like brown sugar. This means that they will provide a very even and sustained bit of energy. They're also small so you can pack quite a few in a jersey pocket and fit a whole bar into your mouth at once while riding and they're easy to chew unlike a Powerbar.
This is basically a rip of the popular LaraBar and it again requires one to tune the recipe to their liking. There are dozens of sites online that provide recipes for the various LaraBar flavors, but most of them miss the mark and I would rather spontaneously do things on my own accord.
1 bag of dates
1/2 cup of nuts. I generally use either Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Macademia nuts, or all of the above. I have also substituted this part for dark chocolate or shredded coconut.
Optional portion of dried fruit. Use whatever you like. Add Pineapple to make shit taste like a Pina Colada- its your call here.
Place dates in the food processor. Grind it like a frat boy at an underaged nightclub. If you're adding dried fruit you can either add it in with the dates or add the whole pieces in the bowl. Place in a mixing bowl. Grind up the other ingredients separately. Place in said bowl. Knead with hands. Place on wax paper or tin foil and cut into sections with a knife. The size of these sections depends on how many calories you want per bar so just add up the key macronutrients on the bag and go from there. Mine end up being 20 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fat.
Put in the fridge or individually wrap and you're done. You can easily fit 4 40 gram bars in a jersey pocket and it ends up being the size of a wallet. Convenient and cheap. If you buy dates in bulk you can get about 200-300 grams of carbs for $6. Considering a Clif Bar is typically around 40 grams, you're saving a bit of cash and getting a better form of sustainable energy. You can also use them for snacks since these are low on both the insulin index and glycemic index.
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Oat Bar Recipe
I try not to eat grains much these days, but this is a good recipe for decent oat bars that will cost next to nothing. This is just a base recipe and you are free to add your own fruit, nuts, whatever you want really. It takes time to get the mixture to you're liking and you really want to avoid making them too moist.
General Ingredients:
2 cups QUICK COOKING oats
1/2 cup honey, grade A maple syrup, agave nectar, or jam
1 egg or 3 egg whites
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup wheat flour
2 TBSP butter, more depending on how you like it
Chopped nuts
Sea Salt to taste
Fruit if you want it.
Heat the oven to 350. Toast the oats for 10 to 15 minutes. It is important to use the quick instant oats because the other varities will clog up your guts and back you up pretty bad from all the fiber.
Remove the oats, combine above in a mixing bowl. If you're using fruit you're going to want to put that in a food processor first and you will have to establish your fruit to liquid ratio. Put nuts in the processor or use pre-chopped nuts. I prefer almonds or cashews.
I liked using agave nectar and various forms of berries and I generally cut the liquid in half when I added fruit. I also added dried fruit, which doesn't require you to process it or deal with halving the liquid.
Mix it together. Use more sea salt than you'd think since you won't taste it and it will help with hydration.
Put in baking dish. Bake for 12 to 20 minutes (it depends on what you put in there). Periodically check and remove when they begin to get firm on the top layer.
Another variant of this recipe requires one to cut the liquid back to 1/4 cup and the other 1/4 cup will be peanut butter or almond butter. This will add a bit of fat, but perhaps make it more balanced for a pre-ride or longer ride bar.
Put in whatever wrapping you want to use and put in the fridge. I'd go through 6 of these in a day when touring in the Alps and they were quite good after perfecting the recipe a bit. It takes tweaking, but each batch should only cost $2 to $4, which is a fraction of what an equivalent box of bars cost. You have to add the macronutrients up yourself because adding fruit or nut butters will change the ratio, but each bar is generally between 30 and 60 grams of carbs, 5g of fiber, 6g of fat, and 200mg of sodium.
General Ingredients:
2 cups QUICK COOKING oats
1/2 cup honey, grade A maple syrup, agave nectar, or jam
1 egg or 3 egg whites
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup wheat flour
2 TBSP butter, more depending on how you like it
Chopped nuts
Sea Salt to taste
Fruit if you want it.
Heat the oven to 350. Toast the oats for 10 to 15 minutes. It is important to use the quick instant oats because the other varities will clog up your guts and back you up pretty bad from all the fiber.
Remove the oats, combine above in a mixing bowl. If you're using fruit you're going to want to put that in a food processor first and you will have to establish your fruit to liquid ratio. Put nuts in the processor or use pre-chopped nuts. I prefer almonds or cashews.
I liked using agave nectar and various forms of berries and I generally cut the liquid in half when I added fruit. I also added dried fruit, which doesn't require you to process it or deal with halving the liquid.
Mix it together. Use more sea salt than you'd think since you won't taste it and it will help with hydration.
Put in baking dish. Bake for 12 to 20 minutes (it depends on what you put in there). Periodically check and remove when they begin to get firm on the top layer.
Another variant of this recipe requires one to cut the liquid back to 1/4 cup and the other 1/4 cup will be peanut butter or almond butter. This will add a bit of fat, but perhaps make it more balanced for a pre-ride or longer ride bar.
Put in whatever wrapping you want to use and put in the fridge. I'd go through 6 of these in a day when touring in the Alps and they were quite good after perfecting the recipe a bit. It takes tweaking, but each batch should only cost $2 to $4, which is a fraction of what an equivalent box of bars cost. You have to add the macronutrients up yourself because adding fruit or nut butters will change the ratio, but each bar is generally between 30 and 60 grams of carbs, 5g of fiber, 6g of fat, and 200mg of sodium.
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